Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship in USSR
By Editorial Staff
Published September 1990
“Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40).
It was twelve years ago that Alexander Solzhenitsyn stunned the distinguished audience assembled for Harvard’s 327th commencement.
Sounding more like an Old Testament prophet than a Nobel Laureate, Solzhenitsyn charged intellectuals and the media with abandoning the West’s Christian heritage and embracing instead a destructive humanism.
While the human spirit had been strengthened in the West through suffering, said Solzhenitsyn, the affluent and comfortable West had become spiritually exhausted. It had lost its courage and moral resolve.
Many dismissed the Russian writer’s speech as an extremist’s rantings. The suggestion of spirituality in the East seemed unlikely at best; Communist tyrants held the church in an iron grip. And in the West an unprecedented born-again movement anticipated a widespread return to traditional moral values.
But by 1990 Solzhenitsyn’s startling words had proved prophetic. A spiritual movement born in the open-air masses of Krakow, the Lutheran churches of East Germany, and the sanctuaries of brave Romanian pastors had spilled onto the streets, toppling Communist tyrants. All the while the West, its born-again enthusiasm spent, drifted far from its moral moorings.
A few months ago I traveled to Solzhenitsyn’s native land. There I saw firsthand the new spiritual openness in the East the Russian writer had foretold.
I went to Russia to visit Soviet prisons, and in Moscow found myself at a negotiating table across from Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin, minister of internal affairs and fourth-ranking official in the Communist government.
Mr. Bakatin is an impressive man with alert, penetrating eyes and a hearty manner. He welcomed our delegation and opened the meeting by explaining , with disarming candor, the crime problem in the Soviet Union.
Crime shot up 38 percent in 1989, he said. The reasons were varied: economic, political and ethnic unrest. But the Soviets were determined to improve their prison system and deal with their crime crisis.
He had been candid; I returned the favor. I told him that crime is not caused by economic or political or ethnic factors. It is caused by sin – by the fundamental evil in the human heart.
In a system that rejects God, there can be no transcendent values or authority to which people are accountable – so one can only reasonably expect unfettered human behavior. And that means crime. “As your own writer Fyodor Dostoyevski put it in The Brothers Karamazov,” I said, “when there is no God, everything is permitted. Crime becomes inevitable.”
Then I described Prison Fellowship’s ministry: how Christian volunteers visit prisons, sharing the news that Jesus can change an offender’s heart and give him a new perspective for living. Bakatin listened intently, “That’s what we need,” he said.
Encouraged, I laid my hopes on the table. This is what I would suggest,” I said. “One, that religious services be allowed. Two, that community involvement be encouraged. Three, that aftercare be developed, using community groups like Prison Fellowship. And four, that restitution and help for victims be made part of your criminal justice process.”
Mr. Bakatin smiled broadly, “Mr. Colson,” he said, “we will welcome Prison Fellowship and groups like you in our prisons. We need your kind of help.” He paused, then with a twinkle in his eye concluded, “And God be with you.”
Surprised and delighted as I was by this outcome, I’m not so naive as to suppose that Soviet officials have all been born again. But what is obvious is that they recognize the failure of the Communist’s system to provide any moral undergirding for their society.
This is the great irony of our age. While formerly “godless Communists” are affirming the fact that society cannot survive without a vital religious influence, religion continues to be shoved out of the public square in what many used to call Christian America.
- Chuck Colson
The God of Stones and Spiders
The God of Stones and Spiders, a recently released book by Chuck Colson, tells of the anti-Christian bias inherent in America’s society of the 1990s. A compilation of essays taken from regular columns written for Jubilee, the newsletter of Prison Fellowship, Colson’s intent is to alert the West to the forces of a hostile culture and call us to renew our spiritual strength.
The obscure title, The God of Stones and Spiders, comes from the story of Nien Ching, a Chinese woman who spent seven years in prison during China’s Cultural Revolution. Watching a spider weave an intricate web from a window of her prison cell, Nien Ching asked herself, “Who had taught the spider to make a web? Could it have really acquired the skill through evolution, or did God create the spider and endow it with the ability to make a web so that it could catch food and perpetuate the species?” This experience helped the woman to see that God, not Mao, was in control.
It is the power and sovereignty of God, rather than human wisdom, that enables us to overcome in our struggles. A god limited to human campaigns and crusades is too small. Like the Pharisees, who told Jesus to keep his disciples quiet, our human effort is an offense to the true God, awesome in power and might, who can only reply: “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”
Colson has hit on many of the most important issues that face us and offers biblically based answers to the problems that threaten to destroy our society. Dealing with the issues of government and public policy, culture, the church, prisons and criminal justice, Colson offers challenge, insight and prophetic words for America.
Forerunner - Home » The Forerunner Newspaper » Russia, Ukraine and former USSR
Your comments are welcome!
Dr. Francis Schaeffer - A Christian Manifesto (DVD)
That Swiss Hermit Strikes Again!
Dr. Schaeffer, who was one of the most influential Christian thinkers in the twentieth century, shows that secular humanism has displaced the Judeo-Christian consensus that once defined our nation’s moral boundaries. Law, education, and medicine have all been reshaped for the worse as a consequence. America’s dominant worldview changed, Schaeffer charges, when Christians weren’t looking.
Schaeffer lists two reasons for evangelical indifference: a false concept of spirituality and fear. He calls on believers to stand against the tyranny and moral chaos that come when humanism reigns-and warns that believers may, at some point, be forced to make the hard choice between obeying God or Caesar. A Christian Manifesto is a thought-provoking and bracing Christian analysis of American culture and the obligation Christians have to engage the culture with the claims of Christ.
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
Click here for more information
The Real Jesus: A Defense of the Historicity and Divinity of Christ (DVD)
Who is the Real Jesus?
Ever since the dawn of modern rationalism, skeptics have sought to use textual criticism, archeology and historical reconstructions to uncover the “historical Jesus” — a wise teacher who said many wonderful things, but fulfilled no prophecies, performed no miracles and certainly did not rise from the dead in triumph over sin.
Over the past 100 years, however, startling discoveries in biblical archeology and scholarship have all but vanquished the faulty assumptions of these doubting modernists. Regrettably, these discoveries have often been ignored by the skeptics as well as by the popular media. As a result, the liberal view still holds sway in universities and impacts the culture and even much of the church.
The Real Jesus explodes the myths of these critics and the movies, books and television programs that have popularized their views. Presented in ten parts — perfect for individual, family and classroom study — viewers will be challenged to go deeper in their knowledge of Christ in order to be able to defend their faith and present the truth to a skeptical modern world – that the Jesus of the Gospels is the Jesus of history — “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He is the real Jesus.
Speakers include: George Grant, Ted Baehr, Stephen Mansfield, Raymond Ortlund, Phil Kayser, David Lutzweiler, Jay Grimstead, J.P. Holding, and Eric Holmberg.
Ten parts, over two hours of instruction!
Running Time: 130 minutes
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
Click here for more information
God's Law and Society (DVD)
Download the Free on-line Study Guide!
God’s Law and Society powerfully presents a comprehensive worldview based upon the ethical system found in the Law of God.
Speakers include: R.J. Rushdoony, George Grant, Howard Phillips, R.C. Sproul Jr., Ken Gentry, Gary DeMar, Jay Grimstead, Steven Schlissel, Andrew Sandlin, Eric Holmberg, and more!
Sixteen Christian leaders and scholars answer some of the most common questions and misconceptions related to this volatile issue:
1. Are we under Law or under Grace?
2. Does the Old Testament Law apply today?
3. Can we legislate morality?
4. What are the biblical foundations of government?
5. Was America founded as a Christian nation?
6. What about the separation of Church and State?
7. Is neutrality a myth?
8. What about non-Christians and the Law of God?
9. Would there be “freedom” in a Christian republic?
10. What would a “Christian America” look like?
Perfect for group instruction as well as personal Bible study.
Ten parts, over four hours of instruction!
Running Time: 240 minutes
Watch over 60 on-line video interviews from God’s Law and Society.
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
Click here for more information
Martin Luther (DVD) 1953 Classic
Niall MacGinnis – Digitally Remastered
The dramatic classic film of Martin Luther’s life was released in theaters worldwide in the 1950s and was nominated for two Oscars. A magnificent depiction of Luther and the forces at work in the surrounding society that resulted in his historic reforming efforts, this film traces Luther’s life from a guilt-burdened monk to his eventual break with the Roman Catholic Church.
In spite of its age, this film continues to be a popular resource to introduce Luther’s life. This historical epic captures the life and times of the greatest figure of the Protestant Reformation with depth and clarity, while giving a glimpse at the private man in the eye of the storm. Luther’s protest against the established order of the Church gave birth to one of the largest religious and cultural movements history and serves as a prime example of how one man’s spiritual convictions can change the course of human events.
Running Time: 105 minutes
$9.95 — ORDER NOW!
Click here for more information
A Revival Account: Asbury 1970 (DVD)
What is true Revival and Spiritual Awakening?
Discover the answer in this eyewitness account by Dennis Kinlaw, President of Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky, who recounts the story of a visitation of the Holy Spirit in 1970. This is the presentation that has continued to spark the flames of Revival in the hearts of people around the world. Contains eyewitness footage from the Revival at Asbury College in 1970 in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Certain to challenge you to greater holiness and a deeper commitment to full-scale revival. Original news and private footage has been included. If you are a student who longs to see a spiritual awakening at your school, you must see this video!
“This simple video does a wonderful job of conveying something of God’s heart and power, Everyone we have ever shown this to has received an immediate impartation of faith for revival and the power of prayer.”
— Bob and Rose Weiner, Weiner Ministries Int’l
Running Time: 40 minutes
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
